Can I ^make^ her eat breakfast?

[hellish]

Hi, ideas / help needed.

DD1 age 8 hates eating breakfast and this morning we had a big row as she absolutely refused to eat anything before school.

What can I do? Does it really matter if she goes to school with no breakfast?

ask her what she would feel comfortable with eating and stick to it , it is important but the more stressed she gets about food less likely it is that she will eat

so just say you must eat a small something before school not much just small amount what would you like it to be and dont push her to eat more than she has

some people genuinly have no appetite at that time of morning and if pressured you would convince yourself further that you dont want to eat

good luck

Could she eat a sandwich when she got to school?

Is it too much of a rush first thing? (I've always been like that - when working, by the time I got into town was ready to eat - croissants

You can't make her eat anything, but how about a smoothie or something to have on the way to school? Or something else she can eat on the way?

Does she get hungry if she skips breakfast? Would a snack right before bed be an option?

Does she drink milk? If so, give her a large glass of that - plenty of nutrition in that. You could also suggest a fruit smoothie, made with milk, if she'd consider that.

What about a sandwich to eat at break? Or a piece of fruit?

Lots of people don't feel hungry first thing, and it's also a classic thing to make an issue out of - she's not going to back down and nor will you!

Are there other things that she might find palatable that perhaps you don't normally allow, e.g. Coco Pops or other sugary cereals? It might be worth allowing this occasionally if it helps to encourage her to eat something.

When Ds went through this i got him to sit down with me and work out a list of things he would really like to eat for breakfast and then i taught him how to cook them.

I expected him to ask for really shite cereals but he didn't . Turns out cereals just made him feel crap

he loved toasted bagels with scambled eggs best which surprised me. And toast. And sausage sandwiches . And croissant. And pancakes. He makes really good pancakes

My DD was exactly the same all through her school years. (She's 19 now and still doesn't eat anything till lunchtime.) Some people's systems just don't seem to 'wake up' first thing in the morning, so I'd try not to worry. I know how hard it is though, bombarded as we are by 'breakfast is the most important meal' pronouncements and the dreaded one about schoolkids underperforming because of no brekkie.

I can only say it doesn't seem to be as simple as 'no breakfast, poor performance' as my DD's school performance didn't suffer in the slightest (she's at Oxford now) and after many battles that left me frustrated and upset (and still couldn't get the darn child to open her mouth for food before school)I decided to simply let her be and stopped worrying.

I wouldn't entirely stop trying though, children change so often, and once the 'battle' element disappears as you back off and do the leaving-be thing, you can ask lightly 'you eating breakfast this week? any particular cereal you might like? No? ok then,' so she knows it's on offer if she wants it, with no pressure.

You could also try a couple of plain dry biscuits such as digestives or rich tea. Probably better than nothing, not least because you will feel better if she goes off with something inside her

As long as you are confident that she eats a balance diet for the rest of the day, I wouldn't bother. Its not nice to start on a fight everyday, so don't. dd has always been bad on breakfast and I don't get it, because I wake up hungry! She's 12 now and she has complete control on breakfast. Because I don't force it, I do make sure there are plenty of breakfast options for her to choose from though. In fact she tends to make the effort, because I don't force it. This morning, she cut herself a grapefruit. She eats so well, i just don't bother anymore. DH doesn't 'do' breakfast and i don't moan at him, so why bother with Dd?

Thanks everyone for so many helpful replies.

School mornings are a rush as they have to leave at 7.45 but she does eat lunch at 10.40 (very bizzare I know).

I have offered her virtually anything she wants, including sugary cereals, coco-pops bars, sandwiches, fruit etc, she once went to school on an ice pop .
Unfortunately she doesn't drink milk/ eat yoghurt and is often not even interested in orange juice in the morning.

I have never made an issue about food and really don't want to get into a pattern of conflict but she is very motivated by cooking / preparing food for herself so I think I will try your tip Pagwatch.

My dds break up for the summer on Wed so I'll try to get her in the habit of making herself fruit salad or toast I think.

Merryforge - it is the 'underperforming 'at school idea that bothers me the most, it's good to know it doesn't always make a difference

Nigella's croque madame is good; cheese and ham sandwiches with egg mixture over the top, made the night before. then bake in the morning. easy and smells nice cooking. may be worth a try